'Doggy door' designed to save koalas

Above: A koala pushes through an escape hatch in trials. All pictures Endeavour Veterinary Ecology

A life-saving ‘escape hatch’ for koalas has been developed, trialled and 16 are now operating beside roads in the Moreton Bay region.

The Fauna Escape Hatch, nicknamed Koala Doggy Door, was devised and then tested for 12 months at Endeavour Veterinary Ecology (EVE) in Toorbul.

Suspended aluminium or stainless-steel tines (prongs) hang from a frame, built into wildlife fencing, giving koalas a one-way route back to bushland.

Transport and Main Roads (TMR) funded the Australia-first trial and City of Moreton Bay is using its wildlife data to select and then install hatches.

EVE’s Fauna Escape Hatch is based on years of studying koala behaviour and their preference to push under or through barriers – rather than climb over.

In the trial involved more than 85 wild koalas, which had reached the end of their treatment by EVE specialists at the intensive-care clinic.

EVE used three pairs of ‘solutions’ during the trials - traditional escape poles, a new escape valve and the Fauna Escape Hatch.

The results were compelling – koalas opted to use the Brisbane-made and maintenance-free hatch every time it was available.

So far, the 16 installed hatches are at six at locations in Joyner and Griffin – but there are plans for many more in our region.

“With more than 900,000 kilometres of roads across Australia, we urgently need solutions that allow koalas and other native wildlife to move safely between habitats,” EVE CEO Michael Hornby said.

“Our deep knowledge of koala behaviour and habitat use has been key to this project. It excites us to know this device could have a real-world impact in reducing vehicle-koala interactions.”

See how koalas move through the hatch

Deidre de Villiers, Operations and Scientific Manager at EVE, said koalas can detect the “break in the fence” where hatches are installed.

“We did see when koalas found this device they went through it straight away," she said.

“Council decides where to put these devices which really enhance the ability of koalas to get off the roads.”

Koalas spend much of their time in trees, but move across open ground and roads, particularly from July to December, in search for new habitat and mates.

That leads to vehicle strikes which account for, on average, 300 koalas in South-East Queensland every year.

“Council officers have installed the devices and setup camera monitoring to capture the results,” Mayor Peter Flannery said.

“Although this trial has only just begun, we have already seen incredibly encouraging results through our monitoring system showing koalas unable to re-enter the road network thanks to this innovative device.

“City of Moreton Bay has partnered with EVE for many years now and we are proud to be the first Council in Australia to trial the Fauna Escape Hatch.

“We are already planning to expand our green infrastructure network to include more of these hatches in the future and we hope others can follow suit to help save lives.”

The hatches are generating interest from other local government area in Queensland with plans for a broader expansion interstate over the next 12 months.

EVE is an ecology business specialising in the population and health management of koalas. Set-up in 2009, it has tracked and monitored more than 1850 koalas.